1982
-
- Larry Kaplan and Jay Miner form the Hi-Toro company in Santa Clara, California, to create a new video games console. (The company will release three Atari 2600 games under the US trade name Amiga, then switch to building personal computers.) [2634.137] [2661.179]
- September
- David Morse and Jay Miner found Amiga Corporation. [1352.D1]
1983
- September
- Amiga developer Jay Miner completes a prototype computer, code-named "Lorraine", using a Motorola 68000 processor with three custom chips called Agnus, Denise, and Paula. [2634.138]
1984
- March
- Amiga signs an agreement with Atari to develop graphics chips for Atari. [1352.D16]
- June 3
- At the Summer CES, Amiga demonstrates a new computer, code-named "Lorraine". [341.6] [804.18] [241.112] [1352.D1] (January [2634.139])
- June
- Amiga returns money it received from Atari to develop graphics chips, claiming they would not work. [1352.D16]
- (month unknown)
- Atari offers to buy 1 million Amiga shares at $3 each, then lends Amiga $500,000, then changes offer to 98 cents per share. [2634.139]
- August 14
- Atari files a lawsuit against Amiga, claiming graphics chips used by Amiga were developed under contract for Atari. [1352.D16]
- August
- Commodore pays off Amiga's loan to Atari with $1 million, and purchases Amiga Corporation for $4.24 per share. [6] [9] [341.6] [713.297] [804.18] [1352.D1] [2634.139]
1985
- June
- At the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, an Amiga shows the "Boing" 3D checkered ball bouncing, with stereo sound. [1145.31]
- July 23
- At the Vivian Beaumont Theater in the Lincoln Center in New York, Commodore International unveils the new Amiga 1000. It features a multitasking, windowing operating system, color graphics with a 4096-color palette, stereo sound, Motorola 68000 CPU, 256 kB RAM, and 880 kB 3.5-inch disk drive, for US$1295. [16] [187] [1145.52] [1381.D1] [1382.D5] [2634.139] (US$1200 [190.81]) (Fall 1985 [814.30])
- August
- Commodore previews the Amiga computer at the SIGGRAPH conference in San Francisco. [1068.58]
- (month unknown)
- Micro-Systems Software introduces the Scribble word processor for the Amiga. [668.44]
- September
- Commodore launches the Amiga 1000 computer. [2634.140]
- November
- MaxiSoft ships MaxiComm, the first commercially available dumb terminal emulation/communications program for the Amiga. [1167]
- (month unknown)
- Quantum Computer Services begins operations of QuantumLink, a modem-accessed Commodore-specific telecommunications network. (The company is later renamed America Online.) [805.28] [1280.46]
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- December
- Electronic Arts releases the DeluxePaint image editor software for the Amiga. DeluxePaint was a rewrite of Prism for the IBM PC, which was an enhanced port of Doodle, created on a Xerox system. [448.27] [243.78] [241.112]
1986
- January
- Robert and Phyllis Jacob start the Cinemaware company, to create adult-oriented software for the Amiga. [892.66]
- Eric Graham shows his "Juggler" demo animation on the Amiga, showing the Amiga's capabilities of ray-traced animation merged with digitized sound. (This program is the foundation of the Sculpt 3-D software later released by Byte by Byte.) [442.31] [1145.31] (December [705.57])
- MaxiSoft ships MaxiDesk, the first desktop organizer for the Amiga. [1167]
- February
- The first issue of Amazing Computing magazine for users of the Commodore Amiga is published. [2011.180]
- (month unknown)
- Commodore Business Machines releases Transformer software for the Amiga, which, along with the Commodore 1020 5 1/4-inch disk drive, provides limited MS-DOS compatibility. [2010.32]
- Electronic Arts releases Deluxe Video desktop video software for the Amiga. [441.57]
- July
- Byte by Byte releases Sculpt 3-D for the Amiga, the first 3-D modelling program to ship for the Amiga. [442.35] [1145.35]
- August
- MaxiSoft ships MaxiPlan, the first Excel-class GUI spreadsheet program for the Amiga. [1167]
- (month unknown)
- Access Software releases the Leader Board golf game for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and Atari 800. Price is US$39.95. [154.66]
- Electronic Arts releases the DeluxePaint II software for the Amiga. [448.27]
- October
- The first AmiEXPO trade show is held, in New York City. [442.37] [1145.37]
- At the AmiEXPO, Impulse releases the Turbo Silver 1.0 graphics software for the Amiga. [442.37] [1145.37]
- (month unknown)
- Activision releases the Shanghai card game. Price is US$44.95 for the Amiga. [222.32]
- November
- In Monterey, California, the second Amiga Developers Conference is held, over three days. MaxiSoft receives an award for the best Spreadsheet product. [222.32] (First conference [1167])
- Year
- Shipments of Amiga computers: 35,000. [2634.140]
1987
- January
- At the Winter CES, Commodore announces the Amiga 500. It features a 68000 processor, 512 kB RAM, floppy disk drive, and custom chips for animation, video, and audio. [16] [442.40] [804.19] [814.22]
- At the Winter CES, Commodore International announces the Amiga 2000. [16] [804.19] [814.22]
- Byte by Byte releases the Animate 3-D software for the Amiga. [442.35] [1145.35]
- March
- Aegis Development releases the VideoScape 3D animation creation software for the Amiga. [442.35] [1145.35]
- (month unknown)
- Brown-Wagh Publishing releases the Publisher 1000 desktop publishing software for the Amiga. [705.34]
- Intuitive Technologies releases MaxiPlan 500 and MaxiPlan 2000 for the Amiga. [1167]
- Andrew Tanenbaum releases the Minix operating system for the Amiga. It is a free version of Unix with complete source code. [835.169]
- July
- WordPerfect creates an Amiga/Atari division within the company. [330.107]
- WordPerfect ships WordPerfect for the Amiga for US$400. [330.109]
- November
- At COMDEX, NewTek shows a prototype Video Toaster for the Amiga. [857.64]
- Impulse ships Turbo Silver 2.0 for the Amiga. [442.37] [1145.37]
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